After being a dedicated, very happy Kindle user for almost five years, I’ve finally decided to take it to the next level. 
See, I love to read. Love love love it. Not much is better than slipping into a story, losing myself in another world. Before my son was born I would just buy new books whenever I felt like it, and there were seven or eight authors that I followed regularly, purchasing each new book for around $10.
Then my son was born, my husband left his job, and my priorities changed. I realized that I was spending hundreds of dollars a year on new books, and didn’t want to do that anymore. As a temporary solution I basically stopped buying new books, and just reread ones I already had. Of course, it helped that I’ve had way less free time to read–basically the only time I really have to read now is while I’m on a work trip.
Fast forward a couple of years, and I’m ready to start reading more again. The problem: I still don’t want to spend all that money! Solution: my local public library. Over the weekend, I finally went and signed up for a library card. I then had to go to my library’s online portal and create an account. They have a number of formats of eBooks available, including Kindle (or Kindle reader for various devices) and a few others. I was worried it would be super complicated, but the download process was actually incredibly easy. I told my library I wanted to download a certain book, chose the format, and then was directed to Amazon to complete. Then when I connected my Kindle Paperwhite to wifi it downloaded automatically. Done!
It’s not a perfect system—not all books are available, and if a book I want is currently checked out then I have to go on a waiting list. But honestly, I can’t believe it took me this long to sign up. My initial concern about it being annoyingly complicated led to laziness, and now I feel dumb. Oh well! In the future I can download thousands of books for free, any time of day or night. Hooray! If you like to read but don’t like to spend money, this is a great solution for you. To search for a public library near you click here.
Readers, do you borrow eBooks from your library? Know any other ways to get free eBooks?
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Google Calibre-ebook for more free books. And for free newspapers for your Kindle Fire: Click “About” then look for “Downloading news from the web and converting it into e-book form “
Yes! I’ve been using our local library’s digital services to read on my Kindle with great success. Sure, I have had to wait for popular titles. While waiting I have read some titles I didn’t know I would particularly like. The other option is to query Amazon for free Kindle titles. Sometimes an unknown title becomes an interesting read.
All the best!
I’ve bee doing it for a couple of years now on my iPad, and it’s fantastic. No more piles of books in my luggage when I travel, and I can check out and return books from my local library anywhere in the world I have an Internet connection. I agree – you have to put a hold on popular items, but I’ve saved a ton of money
I love getting the kindle books on my iphone (can’t believe how convenient it is) and would like to try the audio books.
Can anybody tell me the steps to get the mp3 audiobook onto my iphone? I access the library/Amazon on my pc.
I’ve been borrowing ebooks from my public library for years and love it! I just recently started borrowing emagazines through the Zinio app and am loving that too.
@Faye You have to download an app (for me it’s the Overdrive app) to listen to a checked-out audiobook.
I love when I found out about the library’s ebook selection. Although I will say I have purchased a few books over the last 3 years because I couldn’t wait for 96 people to read it before me! Other than that it’s fantastic and will cut your ebook spending to practically nothing.